Mara's Callie
by shirleyj-dren
Summary: Others seem to agree with me - there's very little female romance in 'SW' fan fiction. I thought on this, and came up with a perhaps controversial pairing: Mara and Callista. All reviews welcome. Finally finished! And with a better title (I think)!
1. Chapter 1

_Mara? _

Mara blinked, realising she'd drifted away from her conversation. If she'd been so lost that it had taken a mental nudge to chide her back… how damn embarrassing. "Sorry, Luke." She focused on her attention back to her friend and mentor.

"She's not dangerous, Mara. She was an Old Republic Jedi. She's fascinating. So full of stories."

"I'd like to hear them," Mara murmured.

Luke half-smiled, half-frowned. He hadn't even caught the sense of sarcasm that he was so used to from her. Nor even suspicion. She was genuinely interested in the young woman who had returned with him from Outbound Flight. Callista's spirit had been trapped in the ship's control system for years, and the body she now inhabited had belonged to one of Luke's apprentices, Cray Mingla, who'd sacrificed herself to save Luke and the others. Luke missed Cray – she'd been a good friend and student. He couldn't stop questioning himself as to whether allowing Callista to come back with him, had been the right thing to do. For the Jedi Order he was throwing all his effort into rebuilding, she was a near-miracle: someone from the Old Republic who could help guide and shape them. And she had known his parents, had given him and Leia clear information about the ambitious and likeable young man their father had once been. On the other hand, she was a rather strange woman, and Luke wasn't even sure if he liked her. Then, every time he thought such things, he had to scold himself, and remember how Callista's own situation must feel to her: back in the real world, but using the body of a suicidal young girl, and in a galaxy so profoundly changed from the one she'd left.

Luke returned his attention to the present, and glanced again at the woman beside him. Despite previously being sworn enemies, and then that awkward stage of being lovers, he and Mara had developed quite a friendship over the past year. And, just recently, he'd caught himself thinking about her quite often. When arriving home at night, he pictured her there waiting for him; while showering, he wished she were under the flow of water with him; while in bed, he imagined her curled beside him, stroking his body… But those thoughts were embarrassing, and ridiculous. Mara would never be interested in him. He got the impression that she didn't notice men much at all in that regard, and even if she did, he could guarantee that he wasn't the type she'd go for. Mara Jade needed action, and Luke had already had enough of that to last a lifetime. Plus there was the issue of her now being one of his apprentices. And, the fact that he was completely inexperienced in sex, relationships, all of that. The only woman he'd ever kissed – or rather, who'd kissed him – was Leia, before they'd found out they were siblings, and they were both just silently grateful that nothing else had ever happened between them. Force, that would have been horrific.

No, confessing his feelings for Mara would ruin one of the strongest companionships either of them had, and would complicate their lives further.

Luke returned his thoughts to the present, hastily wondering if Mara was going to take advantage of his inattention and mock him for his earlier chiding of her, as she usually would. But she wasn't even looking at him. She had returned her intense gaze to Callista, whose grey-blue eyes – those that had once belonged to Cray – looked around the treatment room of the med-centre with forced assurance, as the medi-droid removed the last of the bandages from her arm, where Cray had been injured before her death.

Imagine bleeding someone else's blood. In spite of the many bizarre incidents of his own past, and the resultant tolerance he had for most beings and their circumstances, the thought still made Luke shudder.

"Can she have more than one visitor at a time?"

Luke glanced back at Mara, surprised. The former assassin had never, to his knowledge, extended kindness toward a stranger. "Yes. Would you like to come with me?" For one foolish moment, the idea danced in his mind: could it be that Mara had only offered because she was so keen to spend time with him?

"If that's all right." While she spoke, her eyes did not leave Callista's movements. _There goes that pipe dream, Skywalker,_ he thought, as they headed toward the treatment room to get to know the ghost-woman a bit better.

The grey eyes that looked up at them as they entered the ward, betrayed Callista's feelings of nervousness and desolation. But her Force presence, however lack-lustre, intrigued Mara. The former 'Emperor's Hand', who had truly believed herself incapable of empathy, felt a softening in her own soul as she looked at those eyes, an emotion that somehow both reviled and excited her. The two women held gazes for a heartbeat longer than an introductory glance required, and Mara stiffened as she felt all the blood in her body rush to her most sensitive areas. What the hell was _wrong_ with her? She had to force herself to focus on the present situation, for the second time in five minutes. She was never going to make it as a Jedi Knight at this rate.

"How are you doing, Callista?" Luke asked,

The woman blinked, wet her lips, and managed a polite smile. "I'm all right, Master Skywalker. My arm…" She trailed off, then began again, more confidently. "_My_ arm, it's healing nicely, they said. I thank you for your role in that."

"There's no need to." There was only one chair set out by Callista's cot, and Luke indicated to Mara that she should sit on it. Mara did so, continuing to both try to avoid Callista's gaze and to take in every aspect of her. Her spy training should have made this easy, but for some reason, she was unsettled by the other woman's presence. Well, perhaps 'unsettled' was the wrong word, for it wasn't as unpleasant a feeling as that… was she flustered? Annoyed, Mara forced herself up in the chair, slipping into old habits by making sure her blaster and lightsaber were both exposed, ready for use if need be.

"This is Mara Jade, another of my apprentices. She wished to meet you," Luke was saying.

Callista looked at Mara again, extending her left hand in greeting. Mara paused a few moments, then reached out her right. As their hands met, Mara felt another gentle jolt go through her body, a jolt that ended between her legs and left behind a tingling sensation in her belly. What was this woman, some sort of witch? But when Mara snapped her eyes up to meet Callista's again, she could see that the Jedi looked just as taken aback.

Mara ended the handshake, then glanced up at Luke. His serene expression, as ever, revealed nothing to an observer, but she could sense his puzzlement at the women's reaction to one another. Nevertheless, he remained professional, keeping his attention on the new Jedi.

"Of course, you'll need somewhere to live. The academy I run on Yavin IV is of course the first option I'd give you. We also have headquarters here on Coruscant."

Mara shocked even herself with the words that fell from her mouth, the first she'd spoken in Callista's presence. "I've a spare room in my apartment. You could stay there."

Both Luke and Callista stared at her. Again, Luke's expression gave nothing away, but she could read his surprise through the Force. And… he was pleased? Ah, because she was being a 'nice person'. He had been encouraging her towards such nonsense. But more material to Mara, was the new woman's reaction; Callista's eyes had widened and her pink mouth had formed a very small, very hesitant, but very sweet smile, one that made Mara's heartbeat pick up speed.

A few minutes later, as they waited for Callista to be discharged from the ward, Luke turned to face Mara.

"This is a very kind thing you're doing."

"Oh, shush, Farmboy. It's no big deal."

Luke couldn't help but smile at that retort. "I mean it, Mara. You'd never have offered a stranger any sort of hospitality before. You're… evolving as a person, I guess. It's wonderful to see." _And I want to see more,_ he thought, and immediately dismissed the idea, horrified at himself for being un-gentlemanly enough to even entertain such notions. He hastily cleared his throat. "Or did you offer her a room for another reason?" he asked, his voice lowered.

Panic flooded Mara's brain for a few seconds. What was he implying? "What do you mean by that?"

"Sorry, that sounded ominous. But, well… your reaction to her was rather… powerful. I felt it through the Force, and I saw it on your face. Are you suspicious of her?"

Mara shook her head, taking her mistake in her stride. "No. Just thought I'd take your advice and try being a good sport, Farmboy."

"Good. I sense nothing harmful from her, but I trust your opinion more than I trust my own, sometimes. If there was something, I don't know, amiss with her, I'd hope you'd pick up on it."

"I would. There's nothing to be scared of, that I can sense. Though in fairness, there's not much to sense at all."

"I know. She seems to have lost most of her Force presence, and abilities, after transferring her spirit. I can't imagine how that must feel."

"Me, neither," Mara murmured, thoughtfully. She added, "And I am sorry about Cray Mingla. I didn't ever meet her, but I know you valued her."

Callista appeared from her ward, looking like a lost child waiting to be collected by her parents. The trio headed back to Mara's apartment, one of many in what had once been a grand old hotel on Coruscant, designed by the Emperor for visiting dignitaries. After Luke promised to visit early the next day and bade them goodnight, Mara and Callista had stood together in the hallway, just looking at one another in a silence of embarrassment, though not of discomfort.

"Jedi Jade..."

"Mara. Please. I don't feel comfortable with that title yet."

"Oh. Mara… I don't have any sleepwear. May I borrow some?"

"Uh, sure. I guess we'll need to go shopping for clothes and toiletries for you." The disgust must have shown in her voice, because Callista smirked a little.

"I'm sorry. You sound so thrilled at the prospect. Not a girlie girl, are you?"

Mara had to laugh, indicating the flightsuit she wore – she'd just flown in on temporary leave from Karrde when Luke had contacted her and asked to meet her. "I only wear dresses and make-up if work forces me into the situation."

"Ah, so what do you do?"

Mara smiled. "Business deals, slicing, information brokering. We were smugglers, before the New Republic was founded. But my employer, Karrde, is a good man, always was."

"How fascinating. I never had a 'job', per se. Jedi were just Jedi, back before…"

"Before the Empire?"

"Yes. Master Skywalker explained the history as best he could to me."

"Well, it was he and his family who made most of the history, in a way. Oh, and just call him 'Luke' around me, honestly. I only call him 'Master' around the young apprentices, or when we're actually in class at the Academy. My fellow apprentices are the same. Most of us were his friends before we became his students."

"Really? How funny. When I was training, your Master was your Master, always. Then again, Master Sk – Luke, well, he's had to build it all from scratch, hasn't he? The poor man."

Mara headed into her kitchen. "Um, I only got back today, so I don't have much. Will caf do for now?"

"Oh, I'm too flustered to even think about food and drink. But… but thank you." Callista touched her fingers to her lips. "Goodness, _food. _That's something I genuinely haven't had to think about in years and years."

Mara didn't know how to respond to that, so she busied herself with preparing the apartment for her guest: pulling out the sofa-bed, fetching spare night clothes from her single bedroom unit, and showing Callista where everything was kept. As she got ready for bed, she wondered again why she'd bothered offering to baby-sit Luke's latest project; Callista was pleasant, but quite dull.

But sweet. And so, so pretty.

Mara shook that thought from her mind quickly, and got into bed.

To her surprise, as the next three weeks went by, she and Callista became… well… _friends_. Each day, Luke would come 'round first thing to check on Callista, then he and Mara would train and spar together, then she'd head to a tap-caf to meet Lando and Corran, sometimes with Luke in tow, sometimes not. This was strictly how she liked to spend her time when she was off work – in the company of the few friends she did have, all of whom were male. The only women she really encountered on leave were Luke's sister, Leia Organa Solo, and Corran's wife, Mirax, both of whom she liked but wasn't close to. But coming home in the evenings to find Callista trying to be helpful, by cooking dinner or cleaning, was sort of… comforting. They would talk about Callista's life in the Old Republic; about her traitorous lover, Geith; about how, despite how grateful she was to be back, it felt utterly insane to be in someone else's body, adapting to their movements and habits. Mara confessed her own past as the 'Emperor's Hand', about how it disturbed her that she knew and remembered nothing of her childhood before serving the Empire; about how she still felt that, despite her friendship with Luke and Lando and Corran, she still didn't feel fully accepted by many in the New Republic, who still regarded her as an oddity, a danger. At the end of those three weeks – as Mara's leave was coming to an end –, they were having dinner together when Callista leaned across and pecked Mara on the cheek, stunning the redhead.

"You've been so kind, Mara. How will I ever settle the debt?"

"Um, no debt. Honestly." Mara hoped her face wasn't as aflame as it felt. Thankfully, Callista simply squeezed her hand, then got up to clear away their dishes.

When she arrived home the following evening to hear the shower running, she went into her bedroom to begin packing up her things. As the shower stopped and she heard the bathroom door open, she called softly, "Callista?"

The sound came of petite feet walking to the bedroom threshold. "Hi, Mara."

Mara turned, and felt her eyes widen. Callista, wrapped in a large white bath towel she'd purchased, was still dripping wet, her brown hair clinging down one side of her neck. She met Mara's gaze with her usual melodious smile. "What is it?"

"I – I, uh…" _Focus, Jade! Stop looking at her hair!_ "I… got you your own key. For here. I… I leave to go back to work tomorrow, but I want you to stay. You can be here when I get ba– I mean, until you've found yourself a place. As long as you'd like." She held out the new key in her palm.

Callista simply stared at her. After a few minutes of just hearing her own blood thudding 'round her head, Mara was relieved when the other woman finally murmured, "Thank you. Why…?"

"Well, you've settled in, and you've nowhere else to go, and… I like having you here. I'll be back again in a couple of months. Just look after the place for me, huh? I know I'm hardly ever here, but I like it. Here. This apartment." _Jade, stop rambling! _

She forced herself to step forward, still holding out the key. Callista reached for it, and that movement, of her delicate fingertips on Mara's palm, weakened the redhead's resolve completely. She pulled the other woman to her and kissed her sweet little mouth. Then, violently pulling herself away, she began cursing, her hands over her face, the key now lying on the floor. "I'm sorry," she muttered, angrily. "Damn, damn, I'm just… I'm sorry…"

"Mara?" Callista's hands came up and took a gentle hold of Mara's wrists, stroking them with her thumbs. "Mara, it's okay."

"No, it's not. You don't… You don't get it, no-one gets it!"

"Mara…" But Mara turned away, her eyes stinging with enraged tears. Now, her secret was out, and everyone would have yet another reason to stare at her and whisper about her.

"Is this what you want?" Callista murmured shyly behind her, and the sound came of the bath towel meeting the floor. Mara turned back to be met with the sight of a warm smile, round little breasts, hands raised in tenderness, and a patch of dark hair between slim legs…

As they lay on the bed, Mara took her time on each area of Callista's body – hair, neck, lips, breasts, stomach, hands and wrists, legs, neck again –, and Callista lay back and enjoyed the attention, and the rapture on Mara's face as she explored each part of her. When she'd looked back up, Callista hadn't known whether to feel amused or moved – the other woman's expression was that of a stupidly aroused schoolgirl, nothing like her usual seriousness.

They stayed in bed for a long time, just touching. Finally, Callista murmured, "Shall we try again at a first kiss?", and a beaming Mara, who'd never felt such exhilaration in her life, leaned in eagerly.


	2. Chapter 2

ONE YEAR PASSES…

_Callie? _

Callista's eyes opened into narrow slits, then widened as she saw the glorious body stretched out on the bed beside her. Before she was even fully conscious of what she was doing, she had reached out her hand to touch the other woman, to stroke and rub her wherever her fingertips may land. _Mara…_

_Hey, beautiful. I know you're not normally a morning person, but… _Mara's face came into focus through Callista's sleep-clogged eyelashes, her expression equal parts lust and rascality.

_But what? _

_I got lonely._ Mara moved to be atop Callista, pressing her naked body against her lover's sleepshort-clad midsection. _You're absolutely divine, you know that?_ She leaned in to kiss Callista's lips; Callista pursed them in anticipation, then gasped as Mara took a last-minute detour and placed her own delicious mouth onto Callista's throat. _Shall I move up or down from here, my darling?_

_Oh, down! _

_ Ooh, you're awake now. How far down? _

All the way down…

_ I think I should take my time. Not rush. _Mara continued to kiss and nibble Callista's neck, taking her left hand in her own right hand and bringing them up to be kissed, too.

"Oh, mmmm… uh, yes!" Callista couldn't keep the conversation simply between their Force-bond as Mara moved to her breasts – the sensation was so strong and so pleasurable, that she had to cry aloud, she couldn't contain such delight quietly. And of course, when Mara's capable hands pulled at her sleepshorts and her grinning face disappeared between Callista's thighs, the moans only got louder.

After surging Callista's body with orgasm, Mara rested her head on her girlfriend's stomach, looking up at her with a small, satisfied smile. Callista's eyes finally opened and met hers, and they held gazes for a while like that.

_I love you, Mara. _

_ Especially after that, huh? _

_Oh, yes, you clever lady. _

_I love you, too, babe. _Mara sighed contentedly, reaching up to stroke Callista's right arm.

_ Don't ever leave me. _

_You know I won't. Why would I leave you?_

_Maybe because this Force-bond is the only real Jedi ability I still have? _

_That doesn't matter. You know damn well, it doesn't matter a bit to me. I want a life with you, Callie. _

_ I know._

_It's not impossible. I asked Luke to speak to Leia about the marriage laws, and she's in favour of same-gender relationships. _

_ That's great. Leia Solo is a good woman. But we shouldn't care what anyone thinks. There's no law against two women living together. _

_I know, but I want a proper family. I want us to be married, if we can be. I want…_ Mara smiled hopefully at her lover. She thought of her whole horrid life, in which no-one had ever made her feel special. All those years in blind devotion to Emperor Palpatine, serving his twisted cause, never being loved or praised or desired by another being. Now, she had this beautiful bond with Callista, and she would do, say, be, and give anything to keep that bond. _I want children with you, eventually. I think. Somehow. However it could be done. _

_ You 'think'? _

_ Well, I know you do. And I know I want you. So, we will. _

_How the dangerous Mara Jade has mellowed! _ Callista smiled back, but her grey eyes were troubled_. You'd have to be the one to carry them, Mara. I… I can't. This isn't really my womb, they wouldn't really be mine… _

Mara moved up in the bed to hold the other woman in her arms. Callista was working desperately with the other Jedi to bring her own Force skills back. So far, she could only have conversations through the Force with Mara and occasionally with Luke. Even wielding a lightsaber still felt odd to her.

_ I know, my love. I'm okay with that. Any kids one of us has, belongs to the other, too. Regardless of whose womb they come from. Regardless of whether they have the Force or not. _She lightly caressed Callista's face._ Or we could adopt. At least then I wouldn't get fat. _They both laughed. Callista squeezed Mara's hand tightly, and spoke aloud.

"I wouldn't care if you did. I'd still love you."

Mara pulled Callista deeper into her embrace and finally kissed her mouth. The kiss was deep and intense, with Mara soon finding herself atop her lover's lap, her legs wrapped around Callista's hips, both women holding the other's breasts. So lost in their lust were they that they didn't even register, through hearing or the Force, their respective comlinks beeping. Or the buzzer of Mara's suite door. Eventually, a Force presence touched Mara's, then withdrew hastily in embarrassment.

Mara pulled from Callista's kisses with a groan of annoyance. "Stay out of my head, Skywalker," she muttered angrily, allowing reality to settle back onto her mind. She'd agreed to meet with Luke first thing to work on meditation training. It wasn't her fault that she'd come home to find Callista already waiting in bed for her…

"Go on, love. You've got training, and it's important." Callista was now out of bed and pulling out fresh clothes for her lover.

"Yes, I know, Miss Jedi-from-another-era," Mara teased, a bit grumpily. Callista looked hurt for just a moment, but as Mara opened her mouth to apologise, the other woman smiled quickly and tossed Mara's clothes to her.

"Go and shower. I'll let Luke in. I want to talk to him, anyway."

Luke Skywalker, dressed in black robes, stood at the door, his usual austere-Jedi-Master expression greeting her. "Good morning, Callista."

"Come on in, Luke. Sorry, it's my fault she's running a bit late."

"Oh, that's okay. We've plenty of time to get started, I cleared the morning for her."

"But I can meet with you later today?"

Luke felt incredibly sorry for the brunette woman standing in the threshold before him. To have lived a life devoted to the Jedi way, to then be snatched from that life, only to be returned with next to no ability to touch the Force… it didn't bear thinking about. He did, of course, try to make time for her every day, but all training efforts had been fruitless. He found teaching his other students to be incredibly challenging, but very enjoyable; the same could not be said for his sessions with Callista. Yet he couldn't very well refuse her, could he?

He nodded in response. "Yes, of course. 14:00 hours, perhaps?"

"Thank you, Luke," Callista said, then glanced behind her as her lover hurried out of their bedroom in her training gear. Mara's face was glowing, Luke noticed. His tough-as-carbonite friend had blossomed since her relationship with Callista had begun. It had been a bit of a surprise for everyone when the two women had shown up at one of Leia's dinner parties with their hands joined, openly acting like a couple. Callista was quiet, thoughtful, and very effeminate, in sharp contrast to the fiercely independent Jade; also, Luke had never known of anyone to have a romantic relationship with someone of the same sex. But growing up a Tatooine farmboy didn't expose you to such ideas. When he'd said so to Leia, she'd laughed, then informed him that male/ male and female/ female love affairs had been rife among the Alderaanian aristocracy, and just accepted; Han had then muttered something about 'butt lovers – just wrong", and Leia had thrown a dishtowel at him. Han, Lando, Corran, and Wedge – the four men with whom Luke interacted the most outside of his apprentices, of which Corran was one, anyway – always got a bit leery when he mentioned Mara and Callista.

A typical conversation of the sort had, in fact, taken place only last night, at Leia and Han's apartment in the former Imperial Palace.

"What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall in their bedroom," Wedge said, sighing over-dramatically.

"A fly on the wall? Really, Antilles? Use your imagination and picture yourself in between them." With that statement, Lando had poured them all a fresh glass of Corellian whisky.

"Well, Calrissian, who do you picture getting you from the front, and which from the back?" Wedge demanded, grinning.

"Who says front and back? Why not top end and… well, I was gonna say _ass_-end…"

"Foul, Calrissian," Corran said, mock-disapprovingly. He wagged a finger in the air. "They're not gonna want to share one another with you."

"Aww, look at Horn being all noble."

"Noble? I was gonna say, you let the two of them get on and do their usual thing, while you just watch. If you happen to find yourself aroused…"

"… which if you're any kind of a man, you would be…"

"… exactly, let me damn well finish…, and if you get turned on by the two naked ladies kissing and touching, you _then_ ask, polite-like, if they'd spare you some attention."

"Oh, yes!" Han yelled, and downed his whisky. Then, upon catching Luke's glance at him, he said, "Aw, come on, Kid, I know you're permanently single, but two ladies together? That's a standard fantasy for any fella."

"Considering you're with my sister, I really don't want to know."

Lando, Corran, and Wedge hooted with laughter. "Go on, Han, who's your second lady in that fantasy?" Wedge asked, as Corran leaned over to grasp either side of Luke's head, covering his ears.

"I'd like a bit of Mon Mothma," Lando grinned. "I'm sure she's real feisty underneath that calm exterior. She'd, y'know, lead you into battle, so to speak."

"Ah, so Lando likes to be dominated? Who'da thought it?"

And so on. Luke still couldn't grasp why the other men thought that two women together was so unbelievably sexy, and yet imagining two men together brought a grimace to all their faces. "Something you're trying to tell us, Kid?" Han had asked the first time that'd come up, his features caught between an expression of disgust and the 'understanding face' that Leia had been trying to teach him.

"Force, no. I just don't see the difference, really."

"Breasts!" was the loud, exasperated reply he'd received in response, from all of them. He'd murmured, "Ah,", just so they wouldn't push the matter further. But he didn't understand it. Wasn't all love beautiful?

Returning his thoughts to the present, he smiled at Mara as she approached the door. But even with all the friendliness he continued to show and feel for both women, sadness still leapt from his heart as Mara stopped to kiss Callista's cheek. The adoration he saw in that green-eyed gaze, would – he was convinced – have been looking his way, if only he'd never brought Callista Ming back from Outbound Flight.


	3. Chapter 3

ONE YEAR PASSES…

_Callie?_

Mara reached out her hand, anticipating the softness of the other woman's skin any second now.

But there was no Callista in her bed. Not anymore.

Mara sat up, angrily blinking back the tears. _Stop crying, you pathetic wimp!_ She slapped her own face, hard. _Get the hell over it. Move on._

_Like you haven't already_, said her conscience sneeringly. And then she remembered: it wasn't Callista she shared a bed with these days. It was Luke.

Callista had left her, had allowed the body she'd inhabited to die. It was a carefully planned suicide. She'd gone very quiet for several weeks, deliberately keeping her mind blank so that Mara struggled to talk to her through their Force-bond. Eventually, the tension between them had erupted. Unfortunately, it had done so at the ball held in honour of Leia Organa Solo's ascension to the New Republic presidency. Mara usually hated that sort of event, but she'd been personally asked; Leia was one of the few people who had never passed comment on Mara's and Callista's relationship, and so the couple respected her. They'd arrived together, but Mara had had to talk business with Talon Karrde, so Callista danced for two numbers with Luke. She gratefully let him move with her across the dancefloor, glad she hadn't been asked by any of the Rogue boys, whom she had heard daring each other to ask Mara Jade, former Emperor's Hand, if she and Callista fancied a threesome. She whispered this knowledge to Luke, and his answering expression was caught somewhere between bemusement, disgust at their behaviour, and sympathy. As the second song ended, Mara approached the pair quite purposefully, holding a pair of champagne flutes. She barely acknowledged Luke's existence, her emerald-coloured eyes focused entirely on her girlfriend. She handed Callista a glass, took her other hand, kissed her hard enough to make Luke turn away with slight farmboy abashment, and then tugged Callista urgently towards the great double doors, a mischievous smile on her face. Callista turned back to give Luke a respectful nod and to mouth "Sorry", but Luke just smiled … and then suddenly felt an uneasy grip take hold of his stomach. He glanced quickly around the ballroom – Leia accepting congratulations from visiting senators, Han and Chewbacca hiding at the bar with the Rogues, Lando smooth-talking a giggling group of young socialites –, and concluded that there was no immediate threat to them. So, why the trepidation in his gut? Something to do with Mara and Callista? He started to head after them, paused for a second as he wondered whether that was a good idea, then was called over by Leia, eager to show off her brother the Jedi Master to her colleagues.

In the smaller adjoining hall, Mara pulled her lover to stand before the transparisteel, to the view of the Coruscant City skyline. "Come here, beautiful," she whispered, and ran her tongue along Callista's neck. Callista responded with a barely audible "ooh". Mara moved her mouth from Callista's neck to her right ear, placing her left hand between Callista's breasts and gently pushing her onto the flat table by the window. "You look gorgeous," she purred. She stood over the other woman, took one of Callista's hands between her own, drew it up to her mouth, and began sliding her teeth gently along each of her fingers, grinning mischievously.

"Mara, what are you up to?" Callista's face finally relaxed, and she giggled. Mara gently bit her lover's middle finger.

_You've been teasing me all night, babe..._

_Oh! Oh, I didn't mean to… _

_Well, you did just by wearing that dress._

_Really? I didn't think it would be to your taste, darling. _

_It is on you. I want you. _

_Oh, I can tell…_

_Yeah?_

_Yeah._

_You want me?_

_Uh-huh._

_Right here? Right now?_

_Mmmm…_

_Oh, you're a bad girl. You've been hanging 'round me for too long, Callista Ming…_ Mara climbed atop Callista, clamping her between her own strong thighs. She lay across the length of her lover's body to kiss her hard on the mouth, then arched up her back and put her knees on the table's surface to enable her to run her mouth down to Callista's breasts, snug in the dress. Mara closed her eyes, focusing hard on the presence of the buttons down her lover's back. Callista felt the buttons pop open as Mara pulled her upright in her arms and opened her eyes again, and the dress slid off, revealing her naked upper body.

"Mara, don't."

Mara had been leaning in toward Callista's right nipple, her mouth pursed for a kiss, but her lover's tone stopped her in her tracks.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I…" Callista shook her head as if to clear it, then looked back at Mara with a tight, forced smile. "Nothing, my love."

"No, tell me." Mara cupped Callista's face in her hands.

"Just… just don't use the Force for things like that, okay?"

Mara smiled wickedly. "But I like it. It's fun. Means I can do two or three things to you at…"

"Well, I don't like it! It's… it's disrespectful. You were born with a gift, you should be using it for nobler activities than sex!"

Mara was stunned. But she leaned in closer to Callista, her eyes wide with concern. "What's really wrong, Callie?" She gently kissed her, rubbing her thumbs across her cheeks. "You've been so quiet recently, you've been worrying me."

"I…" Callista sighed, sat up, shook her head. "I just can't do it anymore. I love you, but I can't. It's too much."

"Callista, you're scaring me. What, what's too much, me? The things I do?"

"No…"

"Callie, I'll do anything if it'll make you happy."

"Well, there's nothing you can do, Mara. I want to die. Want to help me do that?"

Mara stared at Callista in utter horror, moving her hands away. "No, you can't mean that. Whatever's wrong, I can help make it better."

"No, you can't. No-one can." Callista looked tearfully out of the window. "I can't feel the Force at all anymore, Mara. I've tried. You've tried to help, Luke has tried to help…"

"Is that what all this has been about – your mood the past few weeks? I thought I'd done something _wrong_!"

"Mara, let me finish…"

"I don't care! I don't kriffing care about the kriffing Force! It doesn't matter, it never mattered!"

"Please. Stop. Shouting," Callista bit out. She was trying to be as tough as Mara, but her mouth was wobbling and tears were already streaming down her cheeks. The sight broke Mara's heart, but she would not let that show, not even to Callista. No, especially not to Callista, not right now. Instead, she focused on her anger, forcing herself to revel in the other woman's obvious misery.

"Oh, stop damn well crying," she snarled, but her harshness only turned Callista's silent tears to sobs.

"Mara, please…"

"'Mara, please.'"

"Don't mock me."

"Oh, screw you, Callista."

"Mara, I love you, I…"

"Don't dare say that! Don't you dare."

"But it's true…"

"No!" Mara spun to face her. "No. If you did, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

"But don't you understand? I can't live without the Force, it's like being blind and deaf and crippled. I'm not really living…"

"KRIFF YOU! If that's all that matters to you, then go away, go away and just kill yourself, for all I care."

"Don't shout at me, Mara, please don't…"

Mara couldn't control it any longer. Since the terrible argument had begun, she'd been clutching one of the champagne flutes she'd taken from the ballroom, tighter and tighter in her right hand, but now, holding the kriffing thing was as agonising as this whole situation. So she'd hurled it, smashing it against the wall. Callista had begun to weep loudly and had fled the room, while Mara focused on the spot where the champagne had stained the wall, and began mourning.

Now, a mere three months later, Callista was dead and buried, and Mara had spent the intervening time screwing her best friend. Even worse, it had started on the eve of Callista's funeral, when he'd stayed behind with her at her apartment after everyone else – Leia and Han, Lando, Karrde, Wedge, Corran and Mirax, and a few of the other Jedi apprentices – had gone home, unsure of what there was left to say or do. He'd held her on the couch, listened to her cry, and finally convinced her that she should go to bed; her response to that, had been a mental image that she sent to him, of him joining her there, an invitation – rather, a plea – to stay. Being a noble sort, Luke had tried to refuse her, but she'd thrown herself on him and kissed him hard, and within minutes, they were tangled in her bedsheets and she was gawking at the size of his erection with a mixture of lunatic desire, startled incredulity, and slight trepidation.

And that was how Mara Jade had deflowered the Jedi Master.

Luke had always adored her, she knew that now. Being in bed with him was the only respite she ever got from thinking about her lost love. So, using these facts, she spent her nights with him each time she was on Coruscant for work.

What kind of awful person was she? She put her face in her hands.

"Mara?"

She looked up. Luke was standing in the threshold, in boxers and a shirt, his blue eyes wide with concern. He came across to her and sat beside her on the bed. "Oh, Mara, what's wrong? Come here…" He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her; she was in his embrace before she had time to protest or move away.

Damn, he smelled so good, so clean. His body was beautifully carved into muscle from all his Jedi training; the strong hands across her back were such a contrast to the boyishly smooth face against her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

He pulled back, stroking her face with his thumbs. "Don't be sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"I'm just being silly, ignore me."

"I can make you some sweet tea, if that'd help? I was making caf, anyway."

She managed to smile politely and shake her head no, but he continued to hold her gaze, still smiling and delicately stroking her face. He moved his hands to her bare shoulders, and as leaned in to kiss her, she pulled him back atop her, once again determined to replace the misery in her soul with the temporary lift that sex offered.

The next few minutes were lost in a haze of sweat, rough kisses, and loud moans, until suddenly, out of nowhere, Luke slowed down the pace, resting his body down the length of hers and moving very gently in her. Mara had so far lain underneath him with her eyes closed and her face turned away, but Luke now guided her gaze back toward him. He cupped her face and pressed his full lips against hers.

"I love you, Mara."

She broke away from the kiss, staring at him incredulously. What in the hell had he just said? She couldn't have heard him correctly, surely.

"What?" she whispered.

Luke's facial expression had changed from tender to puzzled almost as quickly as hers had swung from lust to terror. "I love you," he said again, though this time without any real certainty.

She swung out from under him, searching for her clothes. She snatched up her bra and knickers and flightsuit from where she'd flung them the night before, not looking at him and cursing to herself under her breath.

"Really, am I that hopeless?"

She glanced back at him, sitting on the bed. He'd adjusted his boxers, which she'd hooked under his backside, and was attempting to smile.

"Don't Skywalker. Seriously, just… just don't."

He got up and came to her, trying to take her hands and to stop her from dressing and leaving.

"Is it too soon?" he asked, gently.

"Luke, it was too kriffing soon the first time, all right? We never should've …"

His firm grasp on her upper arms held her in place. "Mara, it's okay…"

"It was your damn Force that caused all this! She felt so bad about her training, about not being able to keep up with the rest of us…" Mara attempted to slap his chest, but the sobs were coming hard and fast, and she didn't have the strength to. Luke just stood there, holding her, looking as awful as she felt.

"I'm… I'm lonely, Luke. I miss her, every damn day. I'm sorry. I don't want you, I want my girlfriend back." Mara straightened, brushed back her hair, wiped at her face, and, avoiding Luke's searching gaze, left the room.

It was only as Luke heard her exit the apartment that he noticed what she'd left behind: her lightsaber. His father's lightsaber, which he'd given her as a token of trust and friendship. Was that friendship ruined forever? He cursed himself, and ran for the door.

"Mara! Mara, you left-"

She was halfway toward the repulsorlift. She turned stiffly, and met his eyes.

"Yes. Yes, I did. Keep it. Screw you, and your Jedi."

Then, she was gone. Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, stood in the door of his apartment in the early-morning light, clutching a lightsaber that wasn't his own, his heart breaking.


	4. Chapter 4

5

**ONE YEAR PASSES… **

_Luke?_

In his quarters at the Jedi Academy, Luke eased out of his meditation trance. Whose voice had that been? A ghost's. Ben? Yoda?

"Luke?" A soft, anxious, very effeminate voice. "I'm over here."

The Jedi Master glanced 'round. There, by his door, was a short-haired young woman, dressed in simple beige clothes and surrounded by the shimmering blue light of a Force-strong spectre.

"Callista?" he whispered, stunned.

The woman smiled at him. "Hello. Did I startle you?"

"I was meditating."

"My apologies." She watched him get to his feet. "Are you well?"

Luke held the ghost's gaze. "I suppose I am."

"Your family?"

"They're fine." Luke walked to his table and poured himself a drink of water from the jug he kept there. "Why are you here, Callista? Shouldn't you be appearing to Mara?"

To her credit, she met his gaze, unflinchingly. "I have tried, many times. She won't see me. She cries, or gets angry, or leaves the room, or sometimes just ignores my presence altogether until I leave."

Luke glanced regretfully at his father's old lightsaber. The one Mara had practically thrown back at him as she stalked from his apartment.

"I know you love her, Luke." No bitterness, no jealousy, just a statement of fact. "You always did. And you love her still."

Luke raised a fair eyebrow. There was no use in pretending with this woman – she'd been a Jedi of the Old Republic, long before his birth. "Am I that obvious?"

"Rather, my dear." Callista had joined him at the table. "And I know what it's like to love Mara Jade. She has no real idea what love is, because no-one ever showed her affection when she was growing up. She built a fairytale for herself and I, and it was so utterly addictive."

"A fairytale?"

"Luke, we would never have lasted. I was an old soul with a young woman's face, a face I _stole_. Mara told me she wanted babies and marriage and a home, but when it came down to it, would she have done? How do you explain our situation to children? 'Firstly, you have two mothers, unlike all the other kids at school, and secondly, one of them is actually a ghost biding her time in another person's skin.'"

"Callista," Luke said gently, trying to smile at the woman, "Leia is putting through legislation to make same-sex marriage a possibility. I mean, they're calling it 'civil partnership', and it's not quite the same thing, but it's a start. And that's mostly because of knowing you and Mara, and seeing that what you had was no less valuable or real than what a male-female relationship has. You made an impact."

"Thank you." She chuckled. "What about body-snatchers who've lost their Force abilities? Do they get the same rights?"

Luke winced. "Well…"

"Luke, I had only a brief time with Mara, but I don't regret anything, before the end. She's damaged, through no fault of her own, but she's a wonderful, sweet woman who just wants to be loved. She thinks about you all the time."

Luke was stunned. "She does?"

"Yes. She misses you, she's as mad about you as you are about her, but she's too stubborn and proud to go through with leaving you a message, through the Force or on your comm – and believe me, I've watched her standing over Karrde's comm unit for nights in a row, willing herself to do it."

Luke's heart leapt. Oh, if that were true! "She's too proud, and I'm too afraid to lose her altogether."

"Take it from someone who knows all too well: life is short. Take what happiness and love you can. You two are going to be so happy together."

"You know that for a fact?"

"Well…" Callista smiled. "Yes. When you join me, and all your lost comrades, in the Force, you'll understand such things. But that won't be for a long time."

Luke's face grew serious. "I wish I could've helped you more, when you were with us. I can't imagine a life without the Force."

"You're a kind man. But I fairly bask in the Force, now. Go to Mara. She's still awake, and thinking of you. Goodbye, Luke Skywalker. Take care of the Jedi Order." And with that, the spectre was gone.

It was the Rogues' annual party, for which they always hired the Senate Hall, always got in some incredibly potent liquor, and always ended up wrecked. Leia was away on some official visit, and as she'd taken Chewbacca and the Solo children with her, Han Solo was a free agent, which apparently meant getting as smashed as the Rogues. Mara and Lando arrived together to find the former General Solo winning a 'chugging' contest against Corran and Wes Janson.

While Lando wandered over to join in the frivolity, Mara searched the room for Luke. They'd been talking every day since he'd contacted her aboard the _Wild Karrde_, and it both elated and terrified her that they would be seeing one another again tonight. Luke Skywalker, whose responsibilities to the Jedi and his family should have kept him well away from any long-distance relationships. Especially with her.

She spotted him with a group of his younger students. All were in their late teens and early twenties, and all were utterly in awe of them. Although it was the oft-troublesome Kyp Durron who was holding court, gesturing wildly with his hands and making the girls giggle, it was Luke whom they all watched out of the corners of their eyes. He turned 'round, laughing at one of Kyp's stories despite himself, and saw Mara heading in their direction. His smile widened and he broke wordlessly from the group to head to her. The youths watched in surprise as their Master, usually so serious and composed, almost broke into a run to reach Mara. Mara's head filled with the sounds of their mental whispers to each other through their unripe Force bonds:

_Isn't she…? _

_Yep, body-snatcher's girlfriend. _

_Ugh, imagine having sex with a ghost-woman, how the heck do you do that? _

_She's probably crazy. _

_Well, she was Emperor's Hand. _

_No way? Her?_

_The very same. Thinks she's too good to be one of us, as well… _

Luke had reached her.

"Mara," he said, squeezing her hands. Then, he hugged her tightly, and the apprentices' whispers racing 'round her head, were stopped dead, and were silenced. "Dear Force, I've missed you. I'm so glad you're well."

"Thank you," she said, enjoying the feeling of his arms around her. Until she'd been with Callista, she had never, ever imagined sharing hugs or any other sort of physical closeness; had never known such contact, so had never desired or missed it. Now, it felt so good to be held.

At around midnight, all the young apprentices – who were actually fine to talk to, though Mara sensed strongly their continuing unease – left. Luke and Mara continued to swap intimacies, gossip about mutual friends, review the latest holo-films, and laugh together, particularly after finally glancing up and spotting Han and Wedge, both very red in the face, laughing obscenely at apparently nothing in particular.

"Apparently, we're the only ones still sober," Mara remarked, grinning as he indicated Lando and Corran munched messily on takeaway food they'd somehow convinced a couple of security guards to order in for them, and the other Rogues and their partners dancing like lunatics to the heavy music the young favoured these days.

She felt Luke's hand on hers, and turned back to see a shy smile on his face. "Then you'll know I'm being completely rational when I ask you something," he said.

"Okay," she replied, warily.

He enfolded his fingers 'round hers, and she squeezed in response to their solid warmth. The gesture obviously emboldened him, because he leaned in closer and lightly kissed her before he spoke again.

"Will you please come and stay with me tonight, Mara? The past is the past. We were both idiots, so let's just begin again." He rubbed his fingers across her palm.

A beautiful smile broke across her face, and she was just about to scream, _Yes!, _when a slurred voice came from behind them.

"Kid, where da'live?"

Luke glanced behind her, his expression flitting from enraptured, to irritated, to calm and concerned. "Hi, Han. What did you say?"

Han was leaning heavily on Wedge, who looked barely able to stand himself. He pointed his index finger at Luke's face. "Ah _said_, where da'live? He dun't know." He indicated Wedge, who just laughed and hacked in response. "You're a big bad Jedi, ye know aaaalll."

Luke glanced at Mara, who was clearly as torn as he was between whether to laugh or scream. "Han, I'll take you home. I really don't think you'll make it of your own accord."

That was Luke Skywalker all over: always tender toward other people. Even to grown men who should really know better, and be left to their own devices to live and learn if they didn't already.

Even to a woman he should have regarded with disdain, as a bad friend, an unworthy apprentice, and all in all, a nasty piece of work. And yet, he still loved and desired her. And she wanted him, too, needed him like air. It had taken her far too long to see that.

She got up to follow the men from the Senate Hall.

As it turned out, Luke had had to take all his friends home. Mirax Horn, who'd left the party earlier, agreed to take in Wedge as well as her husband, shoving them on a sofa each. She joked about putting their hands on one another's asses and then waking them up in the morning by 'walking in on them'; Mara had laughed wickedly along with her, remembering how much she liked Mirax. Then, they'd gone to the Solos', where Han stunned the protocol droid C-3PO by attempting to swing-dance with him. They finally got Han into his own bed and Lando into little Jacen Solo's vacated one.

And twenty minutes after that, they'd made it from the Solos' door, along the hall, up in the 'lift, into Luke's apartment, and onto his bed. And they'd kissed, the whole way there. Stopping to take a much-needed breath, Mara turned her face into the pillow, and was suddenly hit by a memory of being face down on this same bed, while Luke, kneeling between her thighs, lay kisses along her back.

Luke watched her, and his fingers took hold of her chin. She smiled at him, almost laughing as she watched the array of emotions on his handsome features: nervousness, sensual thrill, utter pleasure, and boyish abashment.

"You still think about me at night sometimes, don't you?" she murmured, settling back.

His face reddened again, but he held her gaze, leaned in, and began lightly kissing her. "I think you're incredible, Mara," he whispered. "I always have."

Mara reached up one hand to touch his face, and reached the other around herself to start unzipping her black flightsuit. "Then have me," she said, and smiled – anxiously, mischievously, happily.

"Mara…" He put his hand on her arm, stopping her unzipping action.

"What?" she asked, allowing a cold note to creep into her voice. But the adoration in his blue eyes softened her mood again, as he said, "Tell me you want this, always. I don't want you just for tonight."

"Luke", she whispered, "I'm sorry about everything. I'm sorry I acted so badly. You deserve better."

Luke took her hand again. "Please stay with me," he said quietly. As he leaned back in to kiss her again, she pulled him in closer, and had to smile around both their mouths as her other hand travelled under his tunic and found his warm body. As she pulled herself free from her flightsuit, she was struck by his awed expression. He let her be in charge, as he always had done before, and boy, did she enjoy directing their lovemaking.

"Wow," he breathed, as they lay together afterwards.

" 'Wow'?"

"Of course." He turned to her. "You're as beautiful as I remembered."

She felt tears sting her eyes; embarrassed, she wiped frantically at them, but they trailed down her face anyway. "How can you forgive me? How can you just… want me? I was so awful to you…"

"You were hurting. It was selfish of me to expect a relationship with you when you'd just lost Callista. I got too caught up in my own feelings. It's me who should be apologising." He kissed her again. "I think we're both ready, now. I know I am." His thumbs caressed the tears on her cheeks away. "Be with me, Mara. Come back to the Order – you know you belong there."

"You make it sound so easy."

"It is. It's as simple as that. We love one another, so let's stop finding excuses not to be together. I never told you how I felt because I thought it was my duty to devote myself only to the Jedi and have no other attachments."

"I was too screwed up then, anyway."

"I know, and I'm so sorry. But Callista loved you, and that softened you, made you a happier person. I wouldn't be here holding you now if you'd never known her. And I'm so grateful for that." He smiled sheepishly. "Does that make sense?"

Mara sighed. "Luke…"

"I love you. I'll give you a happy life, I promise."

"I love you, too, you know I do. And I want to make you proud, and make myself proud, and come back to training, I do." She held up her hands. "But I enjoy working for Karrde, okay? I love my job as much as you love yours."

Luke smiled. "I wouldn't ever ask you to leave."

"You wouldn't, or you wouldn't _dare_?"

"Both," he replied, chuckling.

That night, Luke and Mara planned their future – how Mara could train in between Karrde's assignments, how they could be together on Coruscant and on Yavin IV, how they could marry someday, how it would all be okay. And, somewhere in the Force, Callista Ming's spirit, free at last, rejoiced in the bliss on her former lover's face as she fell asleep in Luke's arms.


	5. Chapter 5

TEN YEARS PASS…

_Mama?_

Mara Jade Skywalker, still planning her next assignment, glanced up from her desk and blinked at the little girl. "Sorry, baby, what?"

Amidala Skywalker – 'Ami' to her family – was only five years old, but there was a burning, restless intelligence behind the sweet blue eyes she had inherited from her father. She held in her little hand, a holo – a rather aged one, by the looks of it. "Who's this, Mama?"

Luke had appeared in their bedroom doorway, sending his own mental message to Mara: _Sorry, my love, she wanted to see some old holos of us, and this was in amongst them._

A tad puzzled, Mara swung 'round in her desk chair and took the picture from her daughter's hand. "Well, if you let Mama see, she'll tell you."

The holo was, indeed, over a decade old. It showed a group of beings sitting on assorted chairs and couches in what Mara recognised was the Solos' former quarters, before Leia'd become Chief of State. There were Leia and Han, snuggled into each other and looking blissfully happy and a little tipsy. There were the only other married couple in their group at the time, Corran and Mirax, posing in the same manner beside the Solos. Luke and Lando had been laughingly swept up in a crushing Wookiee hug by Chewbacca, whilst Wedge Antilles, Talon Karrde, and Leia's childhood friend, Winter, lined up behind the couch with champagne glasses in their hands.

The final two people in the holo, sat on the floor in front of the Solos' and Horns, their arms resting atop an elegant little sitting-room table. Mara recognised her younger self: thinner (too thin, actually – she preferred her post-pregnancy figure), her red hair a curly mess, and wearing a severely dated-looking dress. She couldn't help but laugh at herself.

"Well, you know all these other people, don't you? There's Mama, and Daddy, and Auntie Leia and Uncle Han…"

"Why are you and Daddy not sitting together? Why are you sitting with that lady?" Amidala pointed her little pink fingernail at the woman curled beside Mara in the holo, a woman with kind grey eyes already riddled with worry-lines.

Mara met her daughter's innocently curious gaze, and patted her lap. "Come on up, baby."

Ami obliged delightedly. Her mother was so rarely home, in between travelling for Uncle Karrde's business, that she revelled in any chance to be close to her. Mara hugged Ami against her with one arm, and extended the other to they could both see the holo clearly.

Whenever their daughter had questioned them on anything, Mara and Luke had vowed to be honest with her, never to lie or dismiss, exaggerate or tiptoe. Why she had no grandparents when other children she knew had four; why she couldn't have her own lightsaber yet; why Mama and other women had a 'time of the month' when there was lots of time in a month – it had all come up at some point. Mara had just realised that they'd never discussed Callista before.

"When this picture was taken, Ami, Mama and Daddy were friends. In the same way that you're friends with Valin, say."

"He's my best friend."

"I know, baby, which is great. And that's what Mama and Daddy were, years and years ago, before we got married."

"Okay."

"The lady's name is Callista, and she and Mama were in love…"

As best she could, Mara explained the whole story. When she'd finished, Ami looked thoughtful.

"Do you miss her, Mama?"

"When I think about her, yes. Yes, I do."

"Is she still a ghost?"

Luke answered, "She's with the Force, Ami. As we all will be someday." He smiled gently at Mara, and she smiled back, through the pain that suddenly welled in her as an unhappy realisation struck her.

Later, when Luke had finished teaching for the day, he bade farewell to the young adults' student group he shared with Corran, laughingly promising his friend that he'd meet him tomorrow to discuss Booster Terrik's latest hair-brained scheme. As he gathered up his boots and robe and put them on over his sparring gear, he thought, gratefully, of where he was headed: home, to his own quarters, where his wife and child were. That he had two such people in his life was still a revelation to him, one he had to shake his head at in delighted disbelief. And like Ami, he relished the handful of times a year that Mara was able to be at home for more than a day and night here and there. He sensed her in their living quarters, deep in meditation, and, though the impatience he'd never conquered flared, he would under no circumstances interrupt the important activity. Arriving home, he peeked into Ami's bedroom and found her fast asleep, then headed for a shower.

Sometime afterwards, he felt Mara rise out of her trance. She came into the kitchen as he was setting out dinner.

"Oh, Luke, I was going to do that…"

"It's okay, I like to spoil you when you're here." He wrapped his arms around her beautiful body and held her close, and she buried her face in his strong shoulder.

"Love you."

"Love you, too." He pulled back slightly from the hug and gazed at her. "Are you all right? You seem troubled. And something upset you earlier when you were talking to Ami about Callista, but I didn't want to press you in front of her."

Mara shrugged. "It's nothing, honestly." She smiled, reaching up to stroke his freshly-washed hair – greying and thinning, now, but still soft to touch.

"What is it, love? You can tell me anything."

"I know I can. It's just hard to explain to you."

Luke began setting out dinner, and she followed him 'round the table, watching his capable hands spoon the homemade stew into two bowls and pop open a bottle of wine. As they sat down, she sighed, and looked at him, smiling sadly.

"Callista hasn't contacted me in over ten years, Luke. I've never, ever felt her. She used to appear to me, sometimes, in the first months after she… left, but I wouldn't see her."

Luke reached over to stroke his wife's hand. "I know. She told me, that time she appeared to me."

"I was so young, Luke, and so angry at her. I still am, in a way. Why did she allow herself to be with me when she knew all along…" Mara shook her head, biting her lip and staring down into her stew.

"She loved you, Mara." Luke sighed. "If you want, I'll join a meditation with you, and we can try to reach her together."

Mara stared at him. "Why would you do that?"

"It obviously means a lot to you."

"It's no reflection on you, Luke. On us. I just…"

"Have to make peace with her. I understand."

Mara was not a particularly emotional woman, even now, but she felt herself well up as she watched her husband. Even as he said the right things, even as she knew he meant to do only what was best for her, the lines around his blue eyes had tightened.

"I love you so, so much. I'm sorry I'm still such a kriff-up when it comes to things like this."

He looked at her. "Never say that. You're the mother of my child, and an asset the Jedi Order, and still the smartest and most beautiful woman I've ever met." He put his spoon down and squeezed her hand again.

"I'm so lucky to have you."

"Damn straight." He smiled.

"Was that a Han Solo line, dear?"

"Possibly. Or a Corran Horn Productions catchphrase."

Mara found the joke far more funny than she normally would, out of her sheer relief and delight at her husband's change in tone. Growing serious again, she grasped his hands and moved herself onto his lap.

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to try at some point while I'm here at home." She pressed her lips to his briefly, then pulled away again just far enough to look into his eyes. "But for tonight, let's just be together. Let me show you how much you mean to me…" She put her mouth to his ear, feeling his arousal beneath her. "…_Master_."

_Callista? Callista, do you hear me? _

In a meditation state, a Jedi could allow their spirit and thoughts to 'land' almost wherever they chose in space and time. To reach her ex-lover, Mara had landed in her old apartment on Coruscant. She still used the place occasionally for work, but it appeared to her now as it had looked during her and Callista's two-year relationship: the flowers Callista had often bought to brighten the kitchenette, the hand-washed lingerie raining dry into the bathtub, the pile of boots (Mara's) and pretty slippers (Callista's) by the door. Mara would never have been able to construct those days so vividly by herself, even with them being her own memories, but with Luke's presence guiding and supporting hers, she felt strong enough to hold to the image and to walk down the hallway.

_Callie?_ Hoping that the nickname would draw the spirit out.

No answer.

_Callie, I want to speak to you, just one last time. Please. _

No answer.

Bitterly disappointed, Mara turned to leave, about to draw in on herself again and return to her married home.

_Mara? _

_ Callie! Callie, where are you? _

_ In the bedroom. _

Mara rushed in, her heart pounding. There, on the end of their old bed, sat… a woman with short blonde hair. Mara blinked stupidly.

_Hello, Mara. It's me, don't worry. I look now as I did all those years ago, in my former life, not like Cray Mingla anymore. _

Mara sat cautiously on the edge of the bed beside her. Great – now that she had found the woman she'd so longed to make peace with, she had no idea what to say.

_You've changed, too, Mara. You look curvier, healthier. _

_ Well, I did have a baby. _

_ You're a mother? That's wonderful. When? _

_ Five years ago. Her name is Amidala, after Luke's mother. _

Callista smiled._ So Luke did take my advice, then? _

Mara laughed._ We're as hopeless as one another, he and I. _

_ He's good to you? _

_ He's wonderful, Callista. He wanted me to do this – to talk with you. He's helping me reach you. _

_ He's one of a kind, indeed. I used to be so jealous of him sometimes, you know. _

_ Jealous? _

_ Mara, the only person who didn't notice how he felt about you was, well, you. _

_ Hmm, so Corran and Solo tell me. The smug gits that they are. _

Callista reached out to take Mara's hand, keeping her eyes on the other woman's the whole time, waiting for Mara to move her hand away. When she didn't, Callista gratefully took it between her own two, shifting her upper body to face her former girlfriend.

_I'm sorry that things ended the way they did between us. My situation was… 'crazy' doesn't even cover it, I don't think. You must understand, I couldn't stay, not without the Force to draw on. _

_ I know, Callie. It's okay. _

_ I'm so glad that you're loved. You deserve love and happiness more than anyone I've ever encountered. _

Mara bit her lip, trying not to cry. She sent her husband a quick mental appeal: _Please don't be offended by what I'm about to do._ Luke's presence surged with concern for her, and she sent him a Force caress to soothe him. Then, she met Callista's eyes again, leaned in closer, and brought their mouths together with her free hand behind the other woman's head.

The kiss was nothing like the ones they'd shared all those years ago: it was mild rather than hot, soft rather than firm, kindly and innocent rather than passionate. They stayed like that for a few moments, before Mara broke herself away. She squeezed Callista's hand one last time, then stood and smiled.

_I won't forget you, Callista. You were the first to show me that love was normal and good, not a weakness. _

_Goodbye, Jedi Jade. _Callista smiled fondly._ Or, I imagine it's Master Jade Skywalker these days? _

_The latter, yes._

_Go back to your family. It'll be a long time before I see you or Luke again, I promise. _

Mara stepped from the bedroom, walked down the hallway, and tilted her head at the door, imaging herself back in the present…

She opened her eyes to the scene she'd left when she went under: Luke seated cross-legged, facing her, in one of the jungle clearings used for teaching practice on Yavin IV. His gorgeous blue eyes were already open, watching her with their usual loving care.

"How do you feel?"

Mara crawled into his outstretched arms and snuggled against his body. "Like the luckiest woman alive, Farmboy. I love you so much."

"I love you, too, Mara Jade."

_The end! Hope you've all enjoyed this special journey with me, and are satisfied with the ending. Thanks for your patience and for the reviews. SJD _


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